It seems like every mother of a boy that I talk to complains that boy clothes are just not as cute as girl clothes. I go into a store like baby Gap and first of all - the boy section is maybe a third the size of the girls. Plus, the boy stuff seems so much more plain - navy t-shirts and jeans while the girl clothes are so pretty and interesting. I really feel like there is a demand for more cute, interesting, funky boy's clothes. Would you agree? The reason I ask is because my friend and I are thinking of starting a boys only line of clothing. I am very picky and have managed to find cute stuff for my ds and other mothers ask me about it all the time. Do you think this is a good idea or is the reason for the lack of cute boy clothes due to a lack of demand?

"We shape the clay into a pot but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want" Lao Tzu

That's a good question! I was pondering something similar this morning while getting DD dressed - what do parents of little boys put on them in the summer? We've got all sorts of cute sundresses & rompers, but also the option of just a t-shirt & diaper.

I agree w/ you -- there seem to be significantly fewer options for cute boys clothing than there are for girls. And that seems to be true everywhere: Baby Gap, Old Navy, department stores, BRU, etc. Part of it seems to be colors -- now that Nathaniel isn't a newborn, I don't like to dress him in pale blues and greens and tend to go for bright green, red and blue. W/ girls clothing, it seems like there are more options -- pink and lavender + red and navy and baby blue and green. Maybe the lack of choices for boys' clothing is a reflection of the lack of real choices in mens' clothing?

i agree. although now i have a girl, it seems i'm finding a lot more boy clothes that i like. i'm not into the over-the-top pink ruffles and frills, and the typical "baby boy blue" looks so good on dd and really brings out the brown in her eyes.

but it was so frustrating trying to find boy clothes for ds. sometimes when he was really little, i'd put him in simple girl clothes - he had a sleeper with pastel cats that was so cute. i don't shop at places like baby gap or old navy, but i know what you're talking about. on the very rare occaisions i shop new, i shop at peebles, rainbow kids or sears, and the boy clothes are so boring, even for older boys. and if you're looking for something that's not plastered with kids' character marketing, forget it. i don't want my boy to look like an advertisement for a television show or video game, but there's so little available.

and it seems, for both my kids, that baby clothes are so "grown-up". little polo shirts and flannels and jeans - but where are the cute animal prints that my little boy could be a _little_ boy in. children are not miniature adults. why can't their clothes be more playful?

what i really would like to see is gender-neutral clothes that aren't bland or boring. why do we need to start with the silly gender-stereotyping before our kids can even crawl? i don't get it.

Same problem here, I want to put cute stuff on my youngest son, and the closest I can find is a couple of shirts with lizards or bugs decorating them. And I had to go to 4 different stores before I found a pair of brown sandals for him!

For me, I think the saving grace is going to be cute AIO's, of course, he can only wear them without pants on during the summer.

I shop at Old Navy and they are WONDERFUL about creating really cute outfits (with vibrant colors other than boring blue) for young baby boys & toddlers... every month there seems to be great options to choose from. I'm very impressed with their designers... gotta write them a letter of gratitude.

So it may just be a matter of where you shop. Dept store selections look pretty boring to me.

I agree that Old Navy is one of the better places - at least they have clothes in better colors like yellow, orange and green instead of just boring navy blue. They also have a lot of cute surfer style boy stuff that I think would make even the girls moms turn their heads.

I also agree with the person who said something about baby clothes being too adult. Most of the cute baby rompers and light colored prints end after the newborn stage or at most 12 months. WAM, my son is already in size 18 mos even though he's 8 mos and the clothes are so grown up. I want him to look like a baby for at least a little while longer!

"We shape the clay into a pot but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want" Lao Tzu

we dress our son in dresses. he doesn't wear dipes, and pants fit ok, but we cant find newborn shorts (for summer) that are soft knit. he's too tall for the outfits that snap under the crotch under the 12 month size (he's 3 mos) so, we dress him in all the pretty, bright dresses.

we actually died all his white clothes before he was born, so we had 3 bright colors, hahaha.

if we bought new stuff,we'd definatetly be into good, bright, soft, knit baby clothes

It's very true! I have a son and it is so strange how in most stores, they only have a fraction of what they have for girls. Of course, now I'm having a girl and shopping has become more fun suddenly...
But, yes! Start a boys-only clothing line!

My mom sews a lot of clothes for my nephew because he won't tolerate heavy uncomfortable denim with zippers and snaps that they make for little boys. She makes pants with elastic waists and no metal parts.

Now that he's 4 he picks out his own fabric at the fabric store and he loves big bright patterns. He especially likes "scarry" things like sharks, dinosaurs, bats and jungle animals.

ITA with all the posters here. I felt slightly punished for having a boy whenever I went shopping. I couldn't see the point of putting a 10 month old in heavy denim, or a track suit. It looked ridiculous and uncomfortable besides! I wanted something for his first 18 months at least that was still sort of precious and charming in a baby way, not in a "little man" way.

I did find a lot of nice things at Old Navy. They are the bomb. For maternity clothes too, I just found out.

I liked putting him in seersucker overall suits in the summer time. They are especially cute with no undershirt when you have a chubby baby boy.

Please start a cute boys-only clothing line! Why do we have to get our little boys used to the dull clothing they'll start choosing when they're older & society frowns on any sartorial creativity? Let's put 'em in cute cool clothes -- maybe we can change the way our men dress!

I LOVE Old Navy for my son's clothes and my maternity stuff. Gap isn't bad either, although I think Old Navy's got a better selection and more reasonable prices (hit the clearance racks and you'll be in hog heaven).
I totally agree....boy's clothes are boring, but I have to say the first time I dressed my son in his first suit, it brought tears to my eyes...my little man! It beat the little girls dress department by a mile!
(maybe if more of us moms revolt, some of these clothing manufacturers would start making more cool boy's stuff. If we keep our mouths shut, they'll keep dishing out all the cute girl's stuff.)

I think my baby boy's clothes are so adorable. Yes, they are overly gendered. But everything looks so cute on him! His newborn sized white terrycloth pajama with the little duckie! Oh!

He has a little hat, looks like a fishing hat, and matching argyle socks...a little gray sweatshirt with a hood...he has denim overalls with a stuffed froggie jumping out of the pocket...

he's got a little short suit with whales embroidered on it...

a hand-me-down from his cousins: dark green shirt with a doggie on it, little khaki stretchy pants and a matching green hat. I'm a sucker for the matching hats.

we got him some tie-dyed onesies from a LLL chapter that sells them on the web...

Then he wears the little baby nightgowns. Oh, you could just eat him up in the nighties! Oh my! With his little belly!

Did I mention rompers? Rompers slay me! He's got a white one with red fire engines and spotted dalmatians, and a blue striped one with fishies.

Yeah, okay, it's all boy stuff. I swore he wasn't going to wear gendered clothing. We did have him wear one of my hand-me-downs, a yellow sweater with little ribbons on it. But frankly he looks cute in just about everything. And I like blue. In fact, I bought my cousin's dd a blue sweater set.

Perhaps it's not the clothes, actually. Maybe he's just a Cary Grant of the infant set...

I have noticed the trend of less boys clothes than girls, however I frequently find the cutest boys outfits at K-mart; Maybe because I really love the Elmo stuff there.......My favorite thing they have is onesies with velcro instead of snaps. If you do start your own line, it's things like taht parents like.Things that make you say, "why didn't someone do that sooner"

I get a lot of hand me downs from two friends of my sister's for which I am *eternally grateful* but then I don't get to shop a whole lot for my little guy. I am not picky either, since ds is my first, maybe I don't know what I am missing. I agree that a lot of baby clothes are made to look like miniature adult clothing and a lot of it is not comfortable.

If you do start a children's clothing line with an eye to cute, simple, comfortable, bright-colored pieces may I suggest?

No zippers because the little handle always ends up sticking the baby in the neck if there is no cover for it, KWIM? Also, no denim pants with a heavy-duty elastic band that is so completely uncomfortable for the baby? I like velcro too, but if you don't fasten it back together before you wash it, everything is all stuck to each other!

I have to admit, I appreciate the boring-ness of boy's clothes a little bit, but that might be because I'm not shopping for a boy! For the longest time, dd has needed just plain one-color shirts to go with some other clothing she has. They don't exist in the girls' section! Everything for girls has some kind of print on it--butterflies, flowers, hearts--nothing is just one plain color. I finally found a couple of plain white shirts today in the boys' section at Target. Yay! She can finally wear the overalls that don't match any of her print shirts!

I completely agree! Boys clothes are generally lacking in cuteness. I do shop a lot at Old Navy, though, and agree that they do a good job of making sure there are cute things in the baby boy section. Plus, the stuff is pretty reasonably priced. (Hooray for that!) )

I was just on the gymboree website today thinking this exact thing, by the way. I clicked on the girl stuff, and it's absolutely precious--the patterns and styles are just really cute. But the boy stuff is pretty boring for the most part. I think it's a great idea to start a clothing line for boys! Good luck to you if you decide to go ahead with it.

The main reason I wanted a girl was because the clothes were so much better. After I had my DS, I realized that was kinda silly, but I'm still disappointed that good boy clothes are so hard to find. I'm not a big sports fan, and almost everything has baseballs, footballs or the like on them. Target is the WORST about boys clothes. It's all "race-car" themed and tacky to me.
I'd say go for it! There's definitely a need!

Then he wears the little baby nightgowns. Oh, you could just eat him up in the nighties! Oh my! With his little belly!

You are so funny! Actually, we almost ate my DS up the other night in his little nightgown -- it has a froggie print!

I just hope that the cute choices of clothing for tiny babies continues to be there as he grows. Babies "R" Us is such a disappointment in that regard -- everything with a sports theme or stiff fabric. Yuck!